


Lunchbreak - Pause de Midi

by EliseW



Category: The Tunnel (TV)
Genre: Asperger Syndrome, Friendship, Gen, Screenplay/Script Format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:45:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7210385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliseW/pseuds/EliseW
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Élise and Karl talking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lunchbreak - Pause de Midi

**_A PARKING AREA IN THE DUNES AT THE COASTLINE BETWEEN DUNKIRK AND CALAIS_ **

 

_Just a few cars are parked here. Many spots are empty. The tourist season hasn’t started yet._

_It’s sunny but windy, one of the first nice days in early spring._

_Karl’s estate car comes driving along the small road leading to the parking area and pulls into a spot. ÉLISE and KARL get out. They both have their lunch wrapped in paper bags._

_They walk towards a small footpath that leads through the dunes towards the beach._

 

**_THE BEACH_ **

 

_A sand beach, large dunes overgrown with beach grass in the background._

_It’s low tide. A vast area of tidal flats has run dry. In accordance with the season there are only very few people walking at the beach in the distance._

_Several ferries can be seen out at sea that are leaving for or coming from England. Seagulls are crying._

_Contrasting with the picturesque scenery there are two large concrete constructions covered with graffiti in the background - coastal fortifications left after the war, half overblown by sand by now._

_In the distance the port facilities of Calais are vaguely visible._

_Karl and Élise come walking through the dunes. Karl sits down into the sand at the transition between beach and dunes. He makes himself comfortable, slouching against the lowest dune. Élise sits down beside him. She doesn't lean back, pulling up her legs in front of herself instead._

_She takes out her baguette and starts eating before Karl has even finished unwrapping his lunch._

 

KARL _(rather amused than seriously disapproving)_ : Well,... Bon appétit to you, too…

 

ÉLISE _(realising what she would have been supposed to do, very formal, looking at him):_ Enjoy your meal!

 

_Karl chuckles and shakes his head. He’s used to this by now and doesn’t take offence anymore. He starts eating as well._

_Élise and Karl sit side by side and look out over the sea. They don’t talk. It’s not an awkward but comfortable silence._

_From time to time Karl looks at Élise and musingly watches her eat. She doesn’t look back at him, doesn’t even seem to realise that he’s observing her. She opens a can of soda and drinks from it._

 

KARL: Do you think,... if your sister hadn't died, you would be…?

 

_He hesitates._

 

ÉLISE _(suggesting):_...normal?

 

_That was the word Karl has been trying to avoid, so he tries again._

 

KARL: What I meant was… Do you think, you wouldn't have become this…

 

_Again he stops for a lack of words that wouldn't be insulting._

 

ÉLISE _(finishing his sentence again):_...weird?

 

_Since she doesn't seem offended but just stating a fact, Karl finally nodds._

 

KARL: Well, yeah…

 

ÉLISE _(not looking at Karl, but still looking out over the English Channel, not sad or shaken by her assessment, just stating a fact):_ People tend to think, something must have happened that made me like this, mustn't it? But I was always like this. Nothing happened. It's just… me.

 

_She continues to chew on her baguette. Again Karl watches her musingly for some time. After some time:_

 

KARL _(seriously, interestedly):_ What’s it like?

 

ÉLISE: What’s what like?

 

KARL: Being you… Living with… whatever it is?

 

_Élise takes the last bites from her baguette, thinking about that for a while._

 

ÉLISE _(folding her now empty paper bag while she’s talking):_ What's French like for you? In contrast to English?

 

KARL _(not really sure where this is going):_ I don't know… It’s like… When you talk in French, I get the basic meaning… At least I hope that I do. I’m not always sure though.

When I try to say something, I have to think about sentence construction… which verb form to use…

Whereas in English... I think about none of that, of course. I just... know what’s right.

 

ÉLISE: I suppose that's what it's like for you when you interact with people as well, isn't it? You decide on what to say, what to do, how to behave, without even realizing that you're actually making a decision at all, because you just know what you're supposed to do.

 

_She pauses and swallows, still trying to sound matter-of-factly, but not quite succeeding now._

 

ÉLISE (cont’d): I don't. It's a foreign language to me.

 

_Karl thinks about that for some time. He sits up, moving a little closer to her that way._

 

KARL _(encouraging):_ But in some way... that's good, isn't it? You don't need to be a native speaker to be able to handle a language. You can learn it.

 

_Élise snorts at that._

 

ÉLISE: At some point I realised that people around me use a hidden additional language I don't speak and understand. A lot later I even acknowledged that life might be easier if I did speak that language as well. So I tried to learn…

I actually hoped it would be like learning a language.

You probably never got that far but you stop thinking about grammar and translations at a certain point.

To me English doesn’t feel much different than French anymore even if it’s technically still a foreign language. I’ll never completely lose my accent. I still miss an expression here and there, but I don’t have to consciously use any grammar rules any longer.

I had hoped social interactions would become like that as well at some point, if I kept… practicing...

 

_Élise pauses and thoughtfully watches a ferry out on the sea._

 

ÉLISE (cont’d): It never did… and I’m pretty sure by now it never will.

 

_Karl looks at her musingly for some time, trying to imagine what it must be like._

 

KARL: I'm much more tired in the evening when it was a day with a lot of French… It's almost physically demanding.

 

ÉLISE: You’ve got no idea how exhausting it is...!

 

_Karl searches for something to say but doesn’t really know what, finally helplessly settling on:_

 

KARL: I’m sorry...

 

_Élise starts playing with some sand, lets it trickle from one hand into the other._

 

ÉLISE: You can get home to England at the end of the day. Even in France ninety percent of the people you meet are able and willing to switch to English when they realise you can’t follow.

I spend my whole life with every person on this planet speaking a language I’m struggling with at least as much as you do with French.

_(almost angry now)_

When people hear your accent or realise your mistakes, they don’t blame you. They appreciate that you’re even trying.

When I mess up, I’m just considered insensitive, egoistic and rude.

 

KARL _(softly):_ But that's because people are aware that there are people who don’t speak French. They know what my problem is. But they aren’t aware, that you don’t act the way you do, because you are inconsiderate but because you really don’t know any better. It’s not that they don’t appreciate the effort; they just don’t know that you actually ARE making an effort.

 

ÉLISE _(sarcastically):_ They can't imagine that I’m doing my best, but still am so horribly bad at it...

 

_Karl searches for something appropriate to say._

 

ÉLISE (cont'd): You don't need to think about how to politely disagree to that… We both know it's true and you know I’d consider it lying if you said it wasn't...

 

KARL _(giving up):_ Yes, you are horribly bad at it.

(smiling at her)

But the point is: It’s not your fault and there actually are people who do know that! I totally appreciate your effort and I don’t blame you when you mess up.

 

ÉLISE _(smiling back):_ I know… Thanks…

 

_Karl leans back against the dune again. This time she does the same. They lie side by side in the sand and watch the seagulls flying above them._

 

ÉLISE (cont’d): I try less hard for you, you know that? It’s exhausting enough to pretend around everyone else. I save my energy for the people who don't know what's wrong with me…

_(after a pause)_

It’s unfair, isn't it? - That I am more polite to strangers, even though you are the one I really care about.

 

_Now she looks at him, apologetically._

 

ÉLISE (cont’d) _(very formal):_ I’m sorry in advance for all the times I’ll be inconsiderate.

 

KARL: It's alright…

_(smiling encouragingly)_

Next time you offend me I’ll deem it an honour that you can relax around me...

 

_They smile at each other before they both look up again and continue to watch the seagulls flying above them._


End file.
